News for the Western Pacific Region

August 28, 2019 — The following was released by the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council:

The 2018 annual reports on fisheries in Hawai’i and the US Pacific Islands provide data and trends about last year’s fishery participation, catch rates, landings and other fishery performance factors. Each report also covers ecological components that may impact fishery outcomes such as protected species interactions, climate and oceanographic conditions and socioeconomic factors.

Annual reports are produced for each of five fishery ecosystem plans (FEPs) that have been developed, monitored and amended by the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council. They include the Pelagic FEP, the Pacific Remote Island Areas FEP and FEPs for the Hawai’i Archipelago, American Samoa Archipelago and Mariana (Guam and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands) Archipelago. For more information or to provide your comments, please contact Amy Vandehey, the Council’s Education and Outreach Coordinator, at amy.vandehey@wpcouncil.org or phone (808) 522-8220.

August 27, 2019 — Japan is expected to run into a lot of resistance to its proposed expansion of Pacific bluefin tuna catch quotas at the upcoming meeting of the Northern Committee of the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC), in Portland, Oregon, reports the Japanese wire service Jiji Press.

August 26, 2019 — Japan and the United States have agreed in principle to an outline of a free trade agreement, with plans to complete it by September.

The announcement, which calls for negotiations on a bilateral trade deal, was made 25 August by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and U.S. President Donald Trump on the sidelines of the G7 meeting taking place in Biarritz, France.

August 21, 2019 — New research published Aug. 19 in the journal Marine Policy suggests Japan’s fishing fleets could generate an additional $5.5 billion in annual profits while supporting a 30% increase in populations of fish in Japan’s waters by 2065, if they adopt policies that promote conservation and offer fishermen the right incentives.

Authored by scientists at Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), Iwate University, Norwegian School of Economics, and Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology, the study examines the potential effects of different approaches to managing Japan’s fisheries on catch, profits and the amounts of fish left in the water to support healthy ecosystems. The results suggest that adopting policies that incorporate science-based fisheries management into Japan’s current rights-based management system could increase profits compared to the status quo, the group said.

In December 2018 Japan passed the most significant reforms to its fisheries laws in 70 years. This new research could help shape the implementation of that law, EDF claimed.

August 21, 2019 — China is launching a new testing kit to detect histamine in seafood.

Xiamen Food and Drug Quality Inspection Institute has come up with the testing method that has been approved by the State Administration for Market Regulation, China’s powerful state quality inspection agency.

August 21, 2019 — Diversified Communications, which operates several seafood trade shows around the globe, has made the decision to cancel this year’s Seafood Expo Asia, which was scheduled to take place in Hong Kong from 3 to 5 September, 2019.

The move was made in response to ongoing social unrest in Hong Kong and careful analysis of the current situation, pending protests, and the impacts on the event, Diversified Group Vice President Liz Plizga said.

Divers discovered devastating damage to the coral at French Frigate Shoals, an atoll featuring a crescent-shaped reef. Photos show rubble not recognizable as the former coral reef, one of the most significant reef systems in the nearly 600,000-square-mile monument, NOAA officials revealed Thursday.

August 19, 2019 — An Australian filmmaker is hoping that his debut feature film entitled, “Buoyancy,” will help to raise greater awareness of human trafficking and slavery on Thai fishing vessels.

Rodd Rathjen’s award-winning film highlights the plight of thousands of migrant Cambodian workers trapped in modern slavery in the Thai seafood industry. Shot in Cambodia in the Khmer and Thai languages, the film centers on the plight of an impressionable 14-year old Cambodian boy, who sets out to escape poverty by finding work in a Thai factory, but finds himself sold by a broker and enslaved on a fishing trawler. The result is a harrowing exposition of a reality that remains an issue for the Thai industry, despite ongoing efforts to combat it.

August 13, 2019 — SEAFOOD NEWS — Hawai’i swordfish fishermen finally have a plan for loggerhead and leatherback sea turtle bycatch. The Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council finalized new mitigation measures last week for the shallow-set longline fishery, after waiting for the completion of a new biological opinion for more than a year.

Hawai’i-based longliners provide nearly half of the domestic swordfish to the U.S. market.

The amendment to the Pelagic Fishery Ecosystem Plan sets an annual fleet-wide hard cap limit on the number of leatherback turtle interactions (hooked or entangled) at 16. The Council did not recommend setting an annual fleet-wide hard cap for loggerheads in light of that species’ improving population trends and other mitigation measures, but the Council retains the authority to set a hard cap limit in the future if necessary. The Council noted that few interactions lead to serious injury or mortality of the animal, which is normally released unharmed.

To limit the impact of interactions on sea turtles and to promote year-round fishing opportunities, the Council further recommended the establishment of individual trip interaction limits of five loggerheads and two leatherback turtles. Once a vessel reaches either of these trip limits, the vessel is required to return to port and will be prohibited from engaging in shallow-set longline fishing for five days after returning. This action is expected to allow sea turtle “hot spots” to disperse, while encouraging fishermen to take action to avoid sea turtle interactions before the trip limits are reached, the Council said in a press release.

Additional restrictions set trip limits on each vessel. Any vessel that reaches the trip limit twice for either leatherback or loggerhead sea turtles in a calendar year will be prohibited from shallow-set longline fishing for the remainder of that year. The following calendar year, these vessels will have an annual vessel limit equivalent to a single trip limit – either five loggerheads or two leatherbacks. These additional vessel restrictions are measures required under the new BiOp prepared by NMFS.

The Council’s Scientific and Statistical Committee noted in its report that in light of the BiOp finding that the fishery does not jeopardize the continued existence of these sea turtles, the additional restrictions are punitive. Furthermore, they are not supported by the scientific information that show the fishery has no adverse impacts to the overall loggerhead and leatherback populations.

NMFS Pacific Islands Regional Office Regional Administrator Michael Tosatto reminded the Council that it is the Council’s “mandate to minimize interactions with protected species … minimize means approach zero,” according to the press release.

“You’ve heard the expression barking up the wrong tree – we’re swimming in the wrong ocean,” Council member Ed Watamura, said in the statement. He noted the disproportionate impact the Hawai’i fleet experiences due to the U.S. government’s strict regulations, while foreign fleets have much more impacts to sea turtles. With almost 100 percent of the incidentally hooked turtles returning to the ocean alive, the Hawai’i swordfish fishery has had negligible impact on the leatherback and loggerhead turtle populations in the Pacific Ocean.

Furthermore, threats to loggerhead and leatherback turtles in other parts of the populations’ range include bycatch in artisanal and coastal fisheries in the Western Pacific, direct harvesting of eggs and adult turtles, nest predation by feral animals, beach nesting habitat alteration, and climate change.

The Council did not recommend setting a fleet-wide interaction limit for loggerhead turtles, recognizing that the status of the population has improved since the Council first recommended implementing hard caps for the shallow-set longline fishery in 2004, according to the press release. A recent population assessment of the North Pacific loggerhead turtles showed the population is growing at an annual rate of 2.4 percent, and the total is estimated at 340,000 individuals. Considering this population growth and the additional restrictions on trip limits, the Council found the fleet-wide hard cap limit for loggerhead turtles is no longer necessary or appropriate to conserve the species.

Final action taken yesterday by the Council was a culmination of a nearly two-year process to improve measures for managing loggerhead and leatherback turtle interactions in the shallow-set longline fishery. The process was stalled for nearly a year due to NMFS’ delay in completing the new BiOp, which was originally scheduled to be completed in October 2018. The Council’s final recommendation will be forwarded to the Secretary of Commerce, followed by a rule making process including a public comment period.

This story was originally published on SeafoodNews.com, a subscription site. It is reprinted with permission.

August 12, 2019 — The following was released by the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council:

The Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council met on Thursday, August 8 to amend the Pelagic Fishery Ecosystem Plan with revisions to the loggerhead and leatherback turtle mitigation measures for the Hawai‘i shallow-set longline fishery. The amendment sets an annual fleet-wide hard cap limit on the number of leatherback turtle interactions at 16. An interaction occurs whenever a sea turtle becomes hooked or entangled in longline gear. Few interactions lead to serious injury or mortality of the animal, which is normally released unharmed. The Council did not recommend setting an annual fleet-wide hard-cap for loggerheads in light of that species’ improving population trends and other mitigation measures, but the Council retains the authority to set a hard cap limit in the future if necessary.

To limit the impact of interactions on sea turtles and to promote year-round fishing opportunities, the Council further recommended the establishment of individual trip interaction limits of five loggerheads and two leatherback turtles. Once a vessel reaches either of these trip limits, the vessel is required to return to port, and will be prohibited from engaging in shallow-set longline fishing for five days after returning. This action is expected to allow sea turtle “hot spots” to disperse, while encouraging fishermen to take action to avoid sea turtle interactions before the trip limits are reached.

Additional restrictions set trip limits on each vessel – any vessel that reaches the trip limit twice for either leatherback or loggerhead sea turtles in a calendar year will be prohibited from shallow-set longline fishing for the remainder of that year. The following calendar year, these vessels will have an annual vessel limit equivalent to a single trip limit – either 5 loggerheads or 2 leatherbacks. These additional vessel restrictions are measures required under a new biological opinion (BiOp) prepared by the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS).